Preservation Report August 2005

from Richard Lakin

11201 is now well established at Horsted Keynes, but of course the move and opening ceremony was not the end of it. Inevitably there were more extra jobs still to do. The sales stand soon proved to be too small, and so we extended it by attaching a "modified" kitchen cupboard to the end of the original. The depth was cut down to match the original desk, and the height increased with packing underneath. A new counter was then fitted, made from old wardrobe doors, and the front edge was clad completely in tongue and groove cladding. The overall effect proved rather better than it probably sounds from this description, many of you will have seen it by now. The security arrangements also required modification. Someone almost certainly with no ill intent, managed to force the guard's door and break the bolt. A stronger one has now been fitted, and touch wood the coach has remained secure. Also we have now managed to find a stencil for the headcode. Number 37 is the old code for Horsted Keynes to Seaford .

The Bluebell line is of course very busy and '201 enjoys a steady stream of visitors. In LR 204 Tom Etheridge queries the size of the unit number, I must admit we were of the same opinion once we saw it applied. The lettering was ordered in the same style as the other lettering on the side, but probably this is wrong. There is also a school of thought that it should be in white. There are probably not many people who can still remember now.

Following our efforts at Horsted Keynes, we then had a look at the three coaches covered over at the Woodpax yard adjacent to Sheffield park station. Mostly the covering is in good condition, however one section of one of the covers on one coach had blown off, and the ropes had pulled out some of the eyelets on other sheets. We therefore replaced this one sheet and repaired the others by stapling pieces of scrap wood with suitable holes drilled in them onto their corners. I must admit to an unfortunate indiscretion while working at the woodpax yard. I parked my car near where I was working, but when I came to leave I found that everyone else had gone home and locked up, so that the car was trapped! Nothing could be done but to go home on the train and return the following day (Sunday) to pick it up. An expensive mistake, but at least I got what will probably be my last ride on a CIG in the process.

As is now well known we will have to remove the last coach 11187 from St Leonards probably before the end of this year. It is still not yet clear where we will go. The options are to try and find a barn which is out of use and lay some rails rather like in the woodpax yard, alternatively we may have to go outdoors on another preserved line, unfortunately none of the local ones appear to have room at present. More of this in my next report I am sure.

We have therefore two problems at the moment, first to move the remaining stock of spares out of St Leonards, and secondly to try to get 11187 in a fit state to stand outside if we cannot find indoor stowage. So far we have concentrated on moving the existing bits and pieces. The largest single item of equipment is seating; a lot of cushions, seat backs and squabs have been stacked up along the wall on the railway side of the shed, since before I ever joined the group, and that is over nine years now. Time has not been kind, those at the bottom of the pile have suffered badly from the damp and are beyond saving. However the remainder which are not too bad have been moved in two large van loads to old wood kilns again at Woodpax yard. The difference between first and third class seat backs is quite amazing, third class ones are very plush by modern standards, springs supporting the horse hair padding, however it is still quite easy to carry two third class bench seats one under each arm. The first class ones however are entirely different they are much deeper and with folding arm rests included, the net result is that two people struggle to carry just one bench seat back. It seems that this is the real reason why first class compartments are longer than thirds, to take the extra depth of seating. The squabs and cushions by contrast are very similar for either class. This pile of seats was one of the main things the management at St Leonards were keen for us to move, apparently the insurers were uneasy because of the fire risk

Another numerically large type of stores is brake blocks, we have both cast iron and fibre types. Conduits mostly taken from the old Brighton Belle car, which we helped strip at Stewarts Lane , also those from other Cor coaches produce another awkward item. So far we have spent three complete weekends carrying four van loads from St Leonards to Woodpax yard. Other heavier items have been loaded onto palettes ready to be fork lifted onto a lorry at some future date.

The work is unfortunately taking longer than we would like, especially now that there are only three of us working regularly. This is because Graham Cornell who is well known to many members, has recently undergone a major heart operation and has been forced to leave the team quite possibly for good. I am glad to say at least that he is making good progress since the operation. Graham was the longest serving member of the team, he has worked on the unit for well over 20 years, from the time it was at Peterborough , through its time at Preston Park and at St Leonards. He has done a great deal of very careful work to a very high standard in that time, he has a great knowledge of EMU's and the Cor in particular, and he will be sadly missed. I am sure that everyone associated with the SEG wishes him a speedy recovery.

As has probably been covered elsewhere the production of Live Rail will be changing from now on. I will be writing on a more regular basis, in the August, and February editions, this will keep up the current rate of two articles per year on average. Let us hope that by the next report there will be some better news on the future of 11187.

PRESERVATION REPORT INDEX